For some strange reason (lets blame technology) one of the great stories of this year hasn’t yet been told. Back in July, we had a visit by a team from the Palmerston Baptist Church. The trip was a mix of evangelism and practical work. The main aim was to work with the local churches in Los Palos to run a series of night programs in the town.
Great men (in brown skin) who are ready to work together for God’s glory. This work was facilitated by the ever faithful Pastor Samuel (in red) together with a number of local churches including the Independent Protestant Church (IPTL), Baptist, Nazarene and Assemblies of God (AoG).
Ok, starting out was a bit slow, but who can resist this sweet dynamic duo below doing a boogie to one of the songs.
The young people were a real winner with the locals.
As word got around that the group was in town the excitement began to build. I really appreciated the flexibility of the group and being open to encourage the locals to get in on the action. Pretty soon we found some great talent especially in a local Baptist church.
Some of the girls from the local Baptist church making fast friends.
The gathering each night grew with fun and games from the youth and great, simple preaching from Doug and Janelle.
Each morning the team did some hard yakka tiling the youth house under the steady eye of Graham out the back of the Nazarene Church. Its great to see this accommodation facility now being used by young people needing a place to stay.
Look ma, no tiles!
Slabs don't come neat and level in this country, the first job is chiselling off lumps and bumps.
This is actually very hard work, what a sensational effort !
There seems to be no easy way to clean off the cement.
Look, ma, tiles!!! Notice also the cupboard and lining in the study which included re-doing some electrical.
Yes, just occasionally I get back on the tools – here doing a spot of electrical.
Is there anything these guys cant do!?!
Perhaps one of the forgotten parts of a building project is the furnishings. These cupboards will be used by the youth for their clothes and study materials.
After the hard work is done, there’s just a little time for R & R. The Great Wall gets a little test on the road to Tutuala (ok, it couldn’t make it all the way to Jaco but it had some fun.)
Jaco is on the eastern tip of Timor Leste with beautiful beaches and reefs.
Many thanks to these noble souls who took the plunge to work alongside the folks in Timor.
We’ve got more projects coming up in 2015 – we could do with all sorts of tradies but most of all people with a big heart ready to be moved by a big God.
